I don’t wish to be late to the table by pointing out that Manchester United have problems. We all know they do. You don’t go from Premier League Champions to languishing in 7th place and outside of Europe in the space of a year without a few things going wrong. But, up until last night’s League Cup tie against MK Dons I was struggling to pinpoint exactly what my problem with them was. Why did I groan whenever they came on the TV?
It turned out that the answer had been with me for as long as four years. So my problems with United actually pre-date Fergie leaving. Some United fans would have you believe that all was rosy until Moyes took over. But as far as my grievance went, this was simply not the case.
One of the highlights of my mostly sorry existence as a Spurs fan was our surprising entry into the Champions League in 2010 and our even more surprising progression from the group stages. Every other week myself and a few friends would venture to the nearest pub to watch the games. As dictated by the draw, we would be playing at the same time as United. Chelsea and Arsenal would play the night after.
Our pub was split into two rooms, one showing the Spurs game and one showing the United game. I noticed before long that the United room was a little more scarcely populated while the Spurs room was full to capacity. And I soon found that this was because the United room housed all the United fans whereas the Spurs room played host to a small number of Spurs fans and a large group of neutrals.
The next night, when we would inevitably go back to the pub to watch Chelsea and/or Arsenal there was a much more even split. And the reason for this was so straight forward that I overlooked it at the time but it seems so obvious now. Watching United was mind-numbingly boring.
When Gareth Bale was scoring a late hat-trick in our 4-3 loss away at Inter Milan, United were labouring to a 1-0 win over Bursaspor. We drew away at Werder Bremen 2-2, United were in the next room drawing 0-0 with Rangers. United beat Valencia 1-0 while we were winning at home to FC Twente 4-1.
Of course the entertainment factor wasn’t a measure of success as we crashed out at the quarter final stage while United were runners-up to Barcelona. But it signalled for the first time that United’s position as great entertainers was under threat. United have been unpopular with neutrals for my whole life, but they’d never been boring.
There’s no spark, no excitement, no intangible quality that can get fans out of their seats. We used to see wave after wave of attack and counter attack alike that came with blistering pace and entertainment. Now, seemingly, just boring, laboured football. I understand the idea of the importance of possession and that you don’t need to always move the ball forwards. Barca, Arsenal and Swansea are all famous for possession football, but all teams play that way to a certain extent. But it’s all useless without some penetration (giggidy).
This was all too clear last night at stadium MK. It was undoubtedly a weakened team that played the MK Dons in Tuesday night’s League Cup clash, but still one of highly regarded players (many of whom are internationals) such as Hernández, Welbeck, Januzaj, Evans and Anderson.
United went 1-0 down, fair enough. But if you were then expecting the Dons to have to withstand a heavy backlash then you were left deeply disappointed. The League One side never looked like they would lose their lead to United, not for a second. United offered nothing. Eventually, we did get some entertainment when Milton Keynes romped to a 4-0 win.
These were meant to be United players who were hungry, playing for their places under a new manager. In the last two minutes, 4-0 down, United finally put some pressure on the Dons and forced their keeper into a couple of saves. A goal would have been more than United deserved. It had been pretty routine for this MK Dons side who had drawn 0-0 at home to Coventry City days earlier.
And this is where a lack of excitement clearly translated itself to a lack of success on the field. When United were boring but grinding out results it was hard to question them. Now, when they were left crying out for a little creative flair to open up a League One side they were found sadly lacking.
A lot of pressure on the shoulders of Ander Herrera and Ángel Di Maria already then. Boring football will not get United any further than they got under David Moyes. Creativity from incredibly skilful players is the only way out of their predicament now. It may take more than two new players to change what has been a problem for years.